


Diauxis

by davesbro



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Miraculous Ladybug, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: ...eventually, Adrien is overwhelmed, Aged-Up Character(s), Chat Noir vs. Spider-Man: the ultimate pun showdown, College/University Life, F/M, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Identity Reveal, M/M, Marinette is slightly addicted to coffee, Slow Burn, Spider-Man and Deadpool mentoring Ladybug and Chat Noir, Team Red adopts Marinette and Adrien, The Miraculous Ladybug/Marvel Crossover No One Asked For
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-12-10 22:37:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11701293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davesbro/pseuds/davesbro
Summary: Marinette, Adrien, and about 4,000 or so other Parisian undergraduate students are participating in a 1-year study abroad program in New York City.So it really isn’t all that surprising when Ladybug and Chat Noir bump into each other 3,625 miles from home.It is surprising, however, when they bump into a few of New York’s own superheroes.Crime in New York isverydifferent from the akumas they faced in Paris.





	1. Welcome to New York

Marinette was trying really, really hard not to take pictures of the view out of the plane window. She was sitting in the aisle seat next to a very serious looking businessman and the last thing she wanted was to seem like a hyperactive, spazzy traveller on an 8 and a half hour flight. 

Marinette had never left France before, and she had certainly never been on an airplane. When she had heard about the study abroad program in New York, she filled out the application, collected the requisite reference letters, documents, and wrote her personal essay in two days. Now, a few short weeks later, Marinette sat on a plane for the very first time, fidgeting with her headphones. 

A flight attendant handed Marinette an impossibly tiny bag of pretzels. “Would you like anything to drink?” 

Marinette nodded. “Yes, water please. Thank you.” Marinette took a sip of her water and discreetly looked out of the corner of her eye to see what Very Serious Businessman was up to. His tray table was down and he was typing furiously into what looked like an Excel spreadsheet. Excellent. Distracted. Marinette carefully reached for her purse underneath the seat in front of her and set it onto her tray table. She unzipped it slowly and found a pair of large blue eyes staring up at her. 

She wondered how on earth Tikki managed to slip past airport security. When asked, Tikki just rolled her eyes and said, “Honestly, Marinette, do you seriously think you’re the first Ladybug who’s had to travel?” and left it at that. 

Marinette slipped Tikki a few pretzels. Three hours left until Marinette arrived at JFK. Marinette put on her headphones, selected the dulcet tones of Jagged Stone, closed her eyes and smiled.

* * *

Adrien Agreste was bored. XL Airlines had a decent first class cabin, you know, the kind where each seat is in its own little cubicle and the seats extend out into tiny beds? Yeah. 

But this flight didn’t have WiFi, and that was a problem.

He stirred his manhattan absently. Plagg had made an indignant huff from Adrien’s messenger bag when he heard the name of his miraculous holder’s beverage. Just because Adrien was staying in New York for a year did NOT give him an excuse to make hideously bad puns. 

Adrien sipped his drink, eyes narrowing and lips pressing together as the whiskey warmed the back of his throat. He wondered how Paris would fare in his absence: sure, Hawkmoth had been mysteriously silent for the past 10 months, but who knows if that will last forever. What if something happened? He had spoken with Ladybug before leaving, of course. It wouldn’t do for Adrien to just up and disappear without giving his partner a heads up. 

Ladybug, to his surprise, was also taking a break from their nightly activities. She was frustratingly tight-lipped about it, as she always is about anything concerning her life outside of the mask, but he didn’t blame her. It’s not like Adrien gave Ladybug any specifics about his plans. 

But boy was he excited about his plans.

Adrien was double majoring in Fashion Industry and Business Administration and minoring in Applied Physics at Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Panthéon-Sorbonne offered a one-year study abroad program at NYU to explore American fashion and culture and Adrien KNEW he had to go. New York Fashion Week? Possibly catching a glimpse of Dr. Bruce Banner in Avengers Tower? Yeah. Adrien had to go. 

Convincing his father to allow him to participate in a study abroad program wasn’t as difficult as Adrien imagined—Adrien and his father’s relationship had drastically improved since Adrien had attended Lycée. As Adrien grew older and accomplished more successes both academically and within the Gabriel brand, his father adopted a polite-but-distant attitude toward his son and Adrien treats his father the same way. Mutual respect, professionalism, and treating each other as coworkers instead of family is how the Agreste family functions best. 

Adrien had suggested that studying abroad would allow him to assess Gabriel’s competition and examine upcoming industry trends in America. He may or may not have bribed his father with promises of a detailed report of his findings: a trend forecasting report, SWOT analysis, designer interviews, customer feedback surveys...Adrien may have laid it on a little thick, but it worked and here he was, flying first class to New York.

Adrien wondered what his host family would be like and frowned. He never had any brothers or sisters growing up. He wondered about his host father and his throat tightened.

“Would you care for another?” 

Adrien blinked. His manhattan was gone. “Uh, sure. Thanks.” Great. Getting drunk on a plane, just what he needed. 

Adrien sighed and pulled out his phone before remembering that this flight didn’t have WiFi. Adrien closed his eyes. He couldn’t even lurk on the Ladyblog archives to kill some time.

He hoped that flight attendant would return with his drink soon. 

* * *

Marinette was convinced that the distance between her gate and baggage claim was over two miles long. She was tired and grumpy, her hair was tangled and her butt was numb from sitting for so long. Her phone was blowing up with notifications from Alya and her parents and she couldn’t bring herself to respond with more than “just landed.” 

After collecting her bags, Marinette scanned the sea of travellers for her host family. Her eyes landed on a bored looking twenty-something holding up a sign that read “Dupain-Cheng” and she walked over to her. 

“Looking for me?” Marinette tried, smiling weakly. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng?” the girl responded. Marinette didn’t have the energy to suppress her snort at how the girl butchered her name. 

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Nice. I’m Michelle, but my friends call me MJ. Wanna get out of here?”

“Oh my God yes.”

Marinette followed Michelle to a tan Chevrolet Malibu that looked like it was parked VERY illegally near a sign that said “taxis only.” 

After squeezing all of her bags into the trunk and back seat, Marinette sat down in the passenger’s seat and immediately decided that she hated Michelle’s driving. 

“The 678 is NEVER this clear and the faster I drive the faster we get there, right?”

Marinette gripped the edge of her seat and held on for dear life. 

After about 20 very frightening minutes, they arrived in a suspiciously suburban area that Michelle called Forest Hills. Michelle parked on the street in front of a small white house. “It’s not much, but it’s home.”

Michelle helped Marinette with her bags. “It’s just me and mom, and she knows you’ve travelled a long time. Hopefully she won’t keep you up for too much longer.”

Michelle’s mother was very welcoming and positively delighted when Marinette presented her with a box of macarons from the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie Pâtisserie (Marinette may or may not have wrapped those in a bathrobe in her checked luggage to keep them safe). Marinette was shooed off to a guest room with promises that she and Michelle will have a chance to explore the city tomorrow after she’s gotten plenty of rest. 

Marinette was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Wade Wilson was terrifying. That was Adrien’s first impression. It wasn’t the scars, necessarily, Adrien had been exposed to a lot of jarring imagery working in high fashion for so many years. They were shocking of course, but Adrien knew better than to stare or ask any questions.

It was Wade’s _energy_. Adrien had never seen anything like it. 

The man was all booming voices and smiles and giggles and hand gestures and bouncing up and down and Adrien couldn’t keep up with him. 

Adrien laughed nervously, overwhelmed, and followed Wade into a cab. 

“Dopinder! My man! What’s up?!” 

“Same as always, Mr. Pool.” _Mr. Pool?_ There’s got to be some story behind that. 

“Wonderful!” Wade clapped his hands together and grinned. “Me and my French model here need to go to my apartment.” 

New York never failed to take Adrien’s breath away. It was nearly 23:00—11:00 PM, Adrien was going to have to get used to that—so the traffic in the Midtown Tunnel wasn’t too bad. Wade lived in a 3-bedroom apartment in Chelsea with his daughter, Ellie. “Ellie’s a total badass. She’s more badass than me, and I’m pretty fucking badass,” Wade had mentioned offhandedly.

Adrien looked out of the cab window for a while. He had been to New York before, of course, as a part of Gabriel’s fashion campaign, but he always forgets how long it takes to get from JFK to Manhattan and how _busy_ the streets are at night. 

Dopinder pulled up in front of a nice-looking apartment building. Wade high fived him, gave him finger guns, and began making his way out of the cab. 

Adrien, a little shocked that Wade was just _leaving the cab without paying_ hastily pulled out his wallet and threw four $20 bills in the passenger seat. 

“So,” Wade began as they stepped into the elevator. “You hungry, kid? Because I have about 37 decent takeout places on speed dial. What are you in the mood for? Thai? Mexican? Please say Mexican. Wait. Actually, no, you look like you’re about to pass out. But Ellie really wants to meet you, she hasn’t shut up about you for WEEKS now and she’s going to be so pissed at me if I send you to bed without introducing you to her…”

Adrien smiled. “I’d love to meet her. I don’t have any brothers or sisters and she sounds really cool.” Adrien followed Wade down a hallway on the fourth floor.

“She’s SO cool. The coolest,” Wade smiled fondly. Wade unlocked number 407 and held the door open for Adrien. “Alright, here we are. How about we save the tour for tomorrow? I’ll show you where you’re sleeping—oh, hello there Ellie!”

“Daddy!” A mess of brown curls attached itself to Wade’s leg and peered up at Adrien. “Are you Adrien?” 

Adrien chuckled and nodded. “Nice to meet you, Ellie.” 

Ellie scrunched her nose at him and poked him really hard in the gut. “You don’t look real. Daddy, why does he look like he stepped out of a magazine?” Wade shrugged unhelpfully.

“Well, uh, I model…” Adrien rubbed his abdomen. That _hurt_.

Ellie raised her eyebrows at him, impressed. 

Wade cut in before Ellie could respond. “Alright, El, c’mon, leave the kid alone. He’s been traveling all day. You can interrogate him tomorrow.” Ellie stuck her tongue out at her father. Wade stuck his tongue out back at his daughter. Ellie headed to her room, yelling “Goodnight!” before shutting her door. 

Wade showed Adrien his room. Adrien set his bags in the corner of the room and decided that unpacking would be a problem for tomorrow.

* * *

Marinette couldn’t tell you exactly when she developed a coffee addiction, but she could’ve kissed Michelle when she took her to a Dunkin’ Donuts. “Because,” Michelle had said, “you need to experience _real_ American culture.” Marinette ordered a chocolate chip muffin for Tikki and two coffees for herself: an iced coffee to chug immediately, a hot coffee to sip throughout her morning.  


What? She was tired, okay?  


It took the pair about an hour to travel from Queens to Greenwich Village, where Michelle showed Marinette around Washington Square Park and pointed out a handful of NYU’s academic buildings.  


“What are you studying, again?” Michelle asked as the girls made their way up to Midtown.  


Marinette took a sip of her coffee. “Fashion Industry and minoring in Marketing. I want to be able to actually SELL the designs I create. Hopefully.”  


Michelle looked amused. “Very practical. I’m working on a Ph.D in Women’s and Gender Studies. Looks like I won’t be a TA for any of your classes…”  


Marinette smiled. She rather liked Michelle. MJ? Did Michelle consider Marinette enough of a friend for her to call her that? Michelle was simultaneously very serious and very laid back and that balanced out Marinette’s over enthusiastic personality. Marinette was excited to get to know the older girl and continue exploring New York with her over the course of the next year.  


The streets became more densely packed as the girls neared Midtown. Marinette had to nearly shout to speak with Michelle and the streets smelled like piss and street meat and she couldn’t be happier. This city was so _alive._  


Marinette bought a few notebooks for the semester at a CVS, which was a huge mistake. Each notebook was around $6. Oh well. The girls tried on hats from a street vendor—Marinette opted for a black floppy hat that coordinated well with the rest of her outfit and Michelle bought a puke green conductor hat that Marinette wouldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole.

Time Square took Marinette’s breath away. She had never seen so many people in her life. Everywhere she looked there was something flashing, displaying a new product or musical or clothing line. Distant conversations rang through her ears like a muffled hum, interrupted only by the angry honking of a car horn. Marinette’s heart felt light and she couldn’t stop smiling.

Marinette whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of Michelle. 

“Ugh! No! You’re making me look like a _tourist!_ ” 

Marinette flashed her a shit-eating grin in response. 

“You’re the worst. C’mon, we can do some shopping on the way back if you want. We’re almost at Central Park.”

Central Park was like a breath of fresh air compared to Time Square. It was ridiculously busy—it was a beautiful, sunny, Saturday afternoon—but Marinette loved the splash of nature. 

Marinette turned to Michelle. “Can we hang out here for a little bit?” 

The girls (miraculously) found an open grassy area in the shade that was an acceptable distance away from other park patrons. Marinette laid in the grass and closed her eyes. She could stay here forever. Right here in the grass. There was nothing anyone could say or do to make Marinette feel less than perfectly conten—

“What time do your classes start on Monday?”

Marinette’s eyes flew open.

* * *

Adrien looked at the time on his phone and groaned. 6:00 AM on a _Saturday_ and Wade Wilson is shouting for him to wakey wakey for eggs and bakey. 

Adrien had no idea how the man had _this much energy_ all the time. 

Slipping on a pair of sweatpants and a black t-shirt, Adrien made his way into Wade’s living room where he was greeted by an equally sleepy Ellie.

“Hey,” Ellie said. “Dad’s making pancakes. He’s probably going to be a while,” Ellie shook her head, mumbling something about ‘[that time](http://imgur.com/a/4H6aY) with the swimming pool.’ _Swimming pool?_ Adrien thought to himself. _I wonder if that has anything to do with the name that cab driver called Wade._

“Oh!” Adrien said suddenly. “I almost forgot. I have something for you and Wade!” Adrien went to his room and dug through his suitcases. Ellie poked her head into Adrien’s room curiously. 

“This is from my father’s upcoming fall/winter children’s collection.” Adrien held out a heather grey hoodie with kitten ears on the hood and metallic stitching. Adrien grinned. “I chose it myself.”

Ellie gasped excitedly and immediately put it on over her t-shirt. Adrien pulled the hood down over eyes. 

“Hey!”

Adrien laughed and headed to the kitchen to update Wade’s wardrobe. Adrien found Wade humming Gwen Stefani’s The Great Escape under his breath. Wade’s eyes landed on Adrien. “Good morning sunshine!” he said loudly, effortlessly flipping a pancake. Wade was wearing a dark grey hoodie with the hood pulled tightly around his head, black boxer briefs, and a stained white apron. “What’s up, buttercup? I hope you like pancakes. I love pancakes. Perfect breakfast food: fluffy but never stuffy, drenched in an ocean of 100% pure Canadian maple syrup? FUCK, I think I just came, oh my god, we need to eat these right now—” Wade stacked six pancakes on a plate and shoved it into Adrien’s hand. “EL! Pancakes are ready! Hey, what’s that?”

Adrien set his pancakes on Wade’s kitchen table and glanced down at the fabric draped across his arm. “My father said you worked for him a number of years ago?” Wade’s eyes widened. “He said that he was extremely satisfied with your attention to detail and wanted to thank you for taking me in for a year,” Adrien finished, handing Wade a custom black jacket Gabriel had designed for him. Wade rubbed the back of his head nervously. “Oh! I just remembered he said to say that he was looking forward to working with you again in the future. I didn’t know you worked in the fashion industry.”

“I don’t.” Wade didn’t elaborate. “Jesus...I barely remember that job. Wait! That must’ve been that time in Europe where…” Wade rambled on for a little bit. Something about a tight sequined number and Bea Arthur? Adrien couldn’t keep up. “Wow. This is nice, though!” Wade smiled, his scars pulling against his face. 

Ellie waltzed into the kitchen, served herself some pancakes, and plopped down at the kitchen table with Adrien and Wade. Wade paused for a moment. “Why haven’t you asked me why I look like a piece of swiss cheese that someone shat out and then threw up on?” 

Adrien shrugged. “It’s not any of my business. Not that this really compares to anything you’ve probably been through, but I get what it’s like to be judged based on appearance. People take one look at me and assume they know everything about me. I know we only just met yesterday, but it seems to me that there’s a lot more to you than just your scars.”

Ellie stopped eating and stared at Adrien like she was seeing him for the first time. “Shit, kid, I’m blushing,” Wade said, a little breathless. 

Breakfast at Wade’s was a lively affair after that. 

Adrien helped Wade with the dishes and afterwards eagerly accepted Ellie’s challenge to play Mario Kart with her. (He lost spectacularly.) He followed up by challenging Ellie to play Ultimate Mecha Strike III with him. (He won spectacularly.) Wade, Ellie, and Adrien all argued about their favorite Sailor Senshi on Wade’s couch. They ate ice cream and ordered Taco Bell (Wade had been positively offended when Adrien informed him that there are no Taco Bells in Paris) and watched reruns of Golden Girls.

Adrien’s chest grew warm. He felt so welcomed by this family. He had spent more time with Wade and Ellie in the past two days than he had spent with his own father in the past two months. He had the chance to spend a year with a family that was interested in getting to know Adrien as a person and not as a tool to increase revenues. 

Sitting here with this bizarre man who made wildly inappropriate jokes and his daughter who would someday rule the world, Adrien smiled and cherished every moment. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next time: Adrien and Marinette's first day of classes, Peter makes an appearance, Ladybug and Chat Noir go on their first patrol of New York.**
> 
> Whew! Okay, so in case it wasn’t abundantly obvious I’m kind of mixing and matching between Marvel Universes (sorry) and my timeline is pretty jacked. I also don’t live in New York City (which is also probably abundantly obvious) so I apologize if my geography offends anyone!
> 
>   **Basic Run Down of Things™:**
> 
>  ○ **Marinette** and **Adrien** are both going to be around 19-20 years old.  
>  ○ Let’s pretend that they’re both participating in a MASSIVE study abroad program where thousands of Parisian undergrad students get the opportunity to stay with host families in New York. So (maybe?) it won’t be super weird and strange that Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves in New York at the same time? I’m 600% positive that that’s not how study abroad programs work (oops) so if anyone has any suggestions or constructive criticism on how I can make that actually make sense, I would love to hear your thoughts. ~~(But as a wise soul on this archive once said: "If I do something completely wrong, rest assured that I do not care that much.")~~
> 
> ○ The **Michelle** that Marinette is living with is Zendaya’s MJ from Spider-Man: Homecoming, except aged up because kids are hard to write. Michelle is around 23-24ish.
> 
> ○ **Peter Parker** is going to be around 23-24 years old.  
>  ○ Peter graduated from Empire State University (let’s say he double majored in chemistry and applied physics) and is now magically working on a graduate degree at NYU. He’s a TA for low level science courses. Just go with it.
> 
> ○ **Wade Wilson** and **Matthew Murdock** are going to be around 36-37 years old.  
>  ○ This is going to be a weird, uncomfortable fusion with some elements from the Deadpool comics and the Deadpool movie. The way I’m picturing it in my head is that the Deadpool movie happened and Deadpool is Ellie’s dad, but Vanessa, Shiklah, and Carmelita are all distant exes. At some mysterious point in Deadpool’s history, he moved out of the unit he shared with Blind Al and moved with his daughter into a 3-bedroom apartment (lol just go with it pls) in Manhattan.
> 
> ○ Avengers Tower is still going to be in New York City. 
> 
> Hopefully that clears things up! I’m still a novice writer, so ~~please be gentle~~ constructive criticism is welcome! I'm not used to writing these characters yet but I'm hoping with more practice and research maybe I'll improve a little bit? Thank you for reading.


	2. Classes Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I miss college. Good luck to everyone starting the semester!

_Syllabus Week_. That can’t be too different in America. Adrien arrived thirty minutes early and was sitting strategically in the second row in his lecture hall: he didn’t want to sit in the very first row and come across as an over-eager teacher’s pet, but he also didn’t want to sit so far back that his professor thought he was disinterested. The lecture hall was ridiculously bright, far brighter than Adrien was capable of handling that morning. He skimmed the lecture notes that he had printed before class, mindlessly tapping his pen against his desk. **  
**

_An exception to the Zaitsev rule can occur in a base-promoted E2 reaction if a bulky base such as t-butoxide is used. In that case the bulky base preferentially attacks the β-hydrogens on the methyl group rather than the methylene group, forming the anti-Zaitsev elimination product, the less substituted alkene, 3-methylenepentane—_

Adrien sighed, glanced at the clock (8:42 AM, it’s like the damn thing was _mocking_ him), and pulled out his phone. 

Eventually, more students started filing in. Most students immediately made a beeline for the back rows of the lecture hall. Adrien scrolled through his work Instagram account and briefly checked his insights to see how his most recent posts were performing for his father’s brand. Despite what his friends might assume, Adrien really does care about his brand. His modeling career was something he had carefully cultivated and nurtured over the years, and while he might look back at his pubescent days with his orange converse and 2009 Justin Bieber haircut and cringe, he’s proud of how far he’s come. 

He glanced up to make sure the coast was clear, and switched over to his Chat Noir account. It was a weird day when Ladybug actually agreed that it might be a good idea to set up official social media accounts. Adrien had quietly reminded her that they were public figures and having official accounts might help them to control some of the content people post. He suggested that it would give the citizens of Paris a direct line of communication if any akuma were sighted and if nothing else, it would be a way for them to contact each other while they were both taking a break from the mask. 

Ladybug had taken him seriously and created Instagram and Twitter accounts. It was crazy. It was great. 

That was one of the last times Adrien saw Ladybug before leaving for America. His fingers ghosted over Ladybug’s username and almost robotically he tapped out a direct message. 

> _Hey, LB. I hope you’re doing well. It’s going to be really weird not paw-trolling with you all the time. -CN_

Adrien shook his head and deleted what he typed. He clenched his eyes shut. His heart felt heavy in his chest. 

A boy with messy brown hair walked up to where Adrien was seated. He quickly locked his phone. 

“Mind if I sit here?” 

Adrien shook his head. “No, not at all.” Adrien glanced up at the boy. He was wearing a very well-loved navy t-shirt that read ‘What do you call an acid with an attitude?’ The fabric stretched against the boy’s broad shoulders. Adrien noticed a few small holes near the hemline. There was a picture of phenylalanine with a grumpy face in the benzene ring followed by the punchline directly underneath: ‘An A-MEAN-o acid!’. Adrien chuckled quietly to himself. “I like your shirt. I’m Adrien, by the way.” 

“Peter.” Then Peter smiled and Adrien felt his cheeks grow warm. Adrien opened his mouth to respond when a loud noise erupted from the speakers. 

Oh. The professor had arrived, and he was blowing directly into his microphone to test if it was on. “Hello!” The professor said brightly. “It’s 9:00, let’s get started. My name is—”

Adrien listened while the professor introduced himself and talked about his office hours and how to contact him. Adrien let his thoughts wander to where he would get lunch for Plagg and himself today, he had a two hour break between classes. _It’s New York_ , Adrien thought to himself. _There’s GOT to be some specialty cheese sho—_

“—introduce your lecture TAs! They’ll be showing up to every lecture and they are _very_ well versed in the material, so if you have any questions about what’s going on in lecture or with the homework, they will be happy to help you out. Can my lecture TAs stand up and introduce themselves?”

The boy— _Peter_ —sitting next to Adrien became very still. Adrien snuck a glance at him. Peter’s ears turned red and he stood up. 

“Hi! My name is Peter Parker, I double-majored in Chemistry and Applied Physics and right now I’m working on my Master’s.” Adrien was a little blown away by Peter’s effortless confidence, at how his voice carried throughout the room. “If you have any questions, feel free to email me, I’m looking forward to meeting you guys!” Peter grinned. “My email should be on the syllabus,” he finished hurriedly. 

Adrien watched as Peter sat back down. The professor happily rattled off course expectations and academic integrity policies and Adrien couldn’t help but become distracted again. The way Peter commanded the attention of everyone in the room reminded Adrien terribly of Ladybug. 

Adrien’s professor ended class 10 minutes early. Adrien quickly gathered his books and began heading towards the door when Peter stopped him and gave him a small smile. “Adrien, right? It was nice meeting you! Maybe we can sit next to each other next on Wednesday, if you feel up to it?”

Adrien smiled back. “Sure, man.” Adrien and Peter exited the lecture hall. 

“Fair warning, though, I tend to make a lot of really corny science jokes.” 

Adrien snorted. “Dude, chemistry puns? Believe me, I’m totally in my _element_.”

“I’ll have to keep an _ion_ my roster to see if you’re in my recitation section. I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship, Adrien.”

Adrien flashed him a dazzling smile. “My head _hertz_ from the _frequency_ of all these puns. I love it.” 

Peter chuckled and slowed to a stop. “I’m heading this way, I guess I’ll copper later…?”

Adrien blinked. _Copper? Wha—? OH. Cu. This guy was **good**._ “Oxygen magnesium, dude, I almost didn’t get that one. See you around!” Peter gave a small wave and headed in the opposite direction. 

Smiling to himself, Adrien pulled out his phone and opened his calendar app to see what his next class was. 

_Introduction to Marketing._

* * *

Marinette sat in the back of her lecture hall. 

The professor was a happy rotund woman with mousy brown hair and kind eyes. Marinette half-listened as she breezed through the course syllabus and started enthusiastically into the first lesson. 

Somewhere between strategic planning for a competitive advantage and an overview of the 4 P’s of marketing, Marinette pulled out a sketchbook from her bag and began doodling modifications to her Ladybug outfit. She loved her Ladybug suit, but she wasn’t 15 anymore. At least Chat’s suit looked badass and not like a polka dotted onesie. Every few minutes or so she tuned back into what her professor was saying and jotted down notes beside her drawings. 

Marinette looked up and students were shuffling their books into their bags. Huh. That ended quickly.

Marinette was shoving her way through the crowd of students exiting class when she noticed a _very_ familiar and fashionably messy head of blond hair. Jesus. Small world. 

“Adrien…?” Marinette called, incredulous. The blond turned. 

“Marinette?!” Adrien’s eyes widened. “Wha—are you in my _marketing_ class?! I didn’t know you were studying abroad!” 

“You never asked,” Marinette replied, shaking her head. “This is so crazy. What are you studying?”

“Double majoring in Fashion Industry and Business Administration and minoring in Applied Physics.”

“Are you serious?!” 

Adrien laughed and Marinette’s heart skipped a beat. Marinette had _mostly_ moved on from her massive crush on Adrien—well, she had taken down the Adrien posters in her room back at home—but damn if he didn’t look a bit angelic when he laughed. 

“Yeah. That’s what everyone says. What’s your major?”

“Fashion Industry and I’m minoring in Marketing. This is so surreal. I can’t believe you’re here.”

Adrien shrugged. “Small world, I guess. But I mean it kind of makes sense? If we’re not going to study fashion in Paris we might as well do it in New York, right?” 

“Yeah,” Marinette agreed. The pair had reached the main doors of the academic building. Marinette paused. “Do you have another class after this?” 

“Uh, let me check…” Marinette watched as Adrien pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked what she assumed was his schedule.  “Nope! I don’t have anything until 2:00.”

Marinette wrinkled her nose. “Gross. I’m done for the day.”

Adrien blinked. “You don’t have Fashion Merchandising with Dr. Hall?”

“Nope! I must be in a different section, I have that on Tuesdays and Thursdays.” 

“Huh. Good to know.” Marinette and Adrien exited the building and slowly started walking towards Washington Square Park. Adrien shoved his hands into his jean pockets. “Do you want to grab a coffee or something for a little bit? It’s...it’s really nice to see a familiar face around here.”

Marinette flushed. _Did he just—?_ “I-I’d love to! I only had two cups of coffee today and that’s not _nearly_ enough,” she said, fidgeting with the strap of her purse.

Adrien grinned back at her. “Great! I haven’t been to New York in a while, but I think I remember this little place around here somewhere…”

Turns out Adrien didn’t remember. Marinette and Adrien got lost as hell and ended up using Google Maps to find a Tim Horton’s Cafe and Bake Shop. Marinette ordered a large black coffee and a croissant. Adrien also ordered a croissant and what sounded like liquid diabetes. The pair made their way to an open table and sat down. 

Marinette closed her eyes and sighed happily into her coffee. “Oh, sweet giver of life. I am so blessed.” Adrien gave her a look and snorted. “You’re ridiculous, Mari.” 

Marinette opened her eyes and stared at him. “Me?! _I’m_ ridiculous? Want some coffee with that sugar you ordered?” Adrien rolled his eyes. 

“Don’t knock it ’til you try it. Who knows? You might like it a latte.”

Marinette groaned.

“I wonder if this will taste as good as the Dupain-Cheng Boulangerie Pâtisserie,” Adrien whispered conspiratorially, grinning into his croissant. Marinette snatched it from his hands and took a tiny bite. Marinette grimaced and slowly pushed the offensive item back to Adrien. 

“Nope. Here you go buddy. It’s all yours.” Marinette pushed her own untouched croissant to Adrien. “Here. Have mine too. Ugh.”

Adrien took a bite out of his croissant. “What are you talking about, this is amazing!” 

“You were deprived as a child, Adrien.” Marinette shook her head. “You never really had the chance to get used to how decent croissants taste.”

“You’re not wrong,” Adrien replied. “We’ll have to try a different place next time. It’ll be an adventure! The Great New York Croissant Hunt.”

_Next time._ Marinette smiled widely. “Same time next Monday, then?”

“Or sooner! Hang on, let me text you my schedule.”

Marinette tried really hard to not freak out over finally getting Adrien’s number. Her phone buzzed with a new text notification from Adrien and she quickly saved the screenshot Adrien had sent her. She quickly scanned his schedule and smiled softly to herself. “Just like old times,” she muttered under her breath. 

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

The two talked about everything and nothing until Adrien had to get to class. Marinette smiled the entire way home on the subway back to Queens. 

* * *

Adrien’s first week in New York was the best week he’s had in a long time, so he had no idea why he was feeling a little depressed. There was no _reason_ for him to feel that way. 

He loved what he was studying. Sure, Adrien struggled a bit with his chemistry class, but that Peter Parker boy with the beautiful smile ended up being his TA. Peter was _awesome_ , even though he was freakishly silent when he moved and caused Adrien to mess up his chemical reactions. Adrien’s mind wandered back to his first lab session of the semester:

_"Hey Adrien! How are we doing over here?”_

_Adrien jumped and spilled some of the concentrated sulfuric acid into his reaction vial. "Merde!”_

_"Oh, shit, sorry dude. Didn’t mean to startle you. What just spilled, sulfuric acid?”_

_Adrien nodded mutely. Peter grinned. "Hey,_ oxidants _happen, dude. Try adding some water to it and continue heating it under reflux.”_

Adrien smiled at the memory. Adrien was kind of salty that he had to stay an extra 20 minutes to finish his lab, but he was truly moved and inspired by that guy’s punning ability. So school wasn’t really a problem. 

He loved that he could go to his science and business classes without being recognized as a national fashion icon. 

He loved Wade and Ellie. He was pretty sure they were asleep right now: it was around 1:30 am. Adrien couldn’t sleep. He hated when he got like this. Adrien logged into his online homework to distract himself. If he’s gonna be sad, he might as well be sad and productive.

Having Marinette in New York with him was an awesome surprise. She wasn’t nearly as awkward around him as she used to be in Lycée—she was more confident and sarcastic than Adrien ever remembered her being. It was so nice having a little bit of home with him. 

Adrien frowned.

“Kid.” Adrien looked up at his kwami. 

“Stop moping.” Adrien scowled at Plagg. “Hey, don’t give me that face. If you’re homesick, call that DJ friend of yours or something.”

Adrien paused to think about that for a moment. _Homesickness? Is that what this is?_ Adrien reached for his phone and quickly dialed Nino’s number.

_“...Adrien?! What’s going on? Are you okay?”_

“Doesn’t maleic anhydride kind of look like a bodybuilder or a wrestling champion? It’s so weird, dude. I can’t stop seeing it.”

_“DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!”_

Adrien blinked and glanced at his watch. Nino was usually up this late— “Merde. I can’t believe I forgot about time zones. I’m sorry, man. I was feeling pretty bad and figured you’d be up. I hope I didn’t wake you.”

There was a slight pause on the other end. Nino’s voice grew soft. _“It’s okay, man. What’s going on? How are your classes?”_

Talking to Nino was therapeutic. Adrien told him about running into Marinette and his theory on how his cute chem TA is probably a ninja and how Ellie is the baddest ass he’s ever seen. Nino told Adrien about some of his recent gigs and how Alya always somehow managed to convince Nino to help her with her stupid journalism assignments.

It helped, talking to Nino. After the call ended, Adrien felt a lot lighter than he had earlier that evening. Plagg was right: Adrien probably _was_ homesick. He paused for a minute, debating what he should do next. Sleep wasn’t really an option at this point. He steeled himself and made a decision.

“Plagg! Transformez-moi!” A characteristic flash of green light filled the room. 

Adrien baton-helicoptered out of Wade’s apartment and landed on a nearby rooftop. Adrien’s heart was beating fast. He missed this. Adrien walked over to the edge of the rooftop and sat down, looking out at the vast expanse of Manhattan. Patrolling without Ladybug always felt a little lonely, but Adrien told himself to get used to the feeling. He had to do this—he needed this freedom with or without his Lady. 

A muffled scream and a crash that sounded close by shook him from his reverie. Adrien rushed down to street level and started checking nearby alleyways for the source of the noise. Adrien’s heart stopped when he eventually found it: a woman pressed against the alley wall struggling against a large man. His hand was wrapped around her throat.

Adrien’s grip tightened around his baton. He tried to stand menacingly. “Hey! Leave her alone!”

The man didn’t turn around right away. He instead chuckled softly, like what Adrien had said to him was the most adorable thing he’d heard all day. 

And then there was a gun in his face. 

“Walk away, kid.” The man cocked the gun and stared at Adrien. “Christ,” he muttered. “The hell are you wearing?”

Adrien couldn’t move. He had never even _seen_ a gun before. He was used to his enemies attacking him with magic— _reversible_ magic, thanks to Ladybug’s cure. Nothing permanent or actually life threatening, not like this. _Fuck_. 

A strange whooshing noise and a blur of white and the gun was gone. Another two whooshing noises and the man was now somehow stuck to the alley wall, struggling against a strange white substance. The woman, now free, wasted no time and sprinted out of the alley.

Adrien became very still. 

“Hello?” Adrien called out. “Who’s there?” 

An offended gasp. “What?! You haven’t heard of me? I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Jeez, you must really be from out of town or something…Who are you, anyway?”

Adrien saw what could be described as a crime against fashion emerge from the shadows. He gaped. The red and blue? As vibrant as they are?! Merde. Adrien could write a 45 page dissertation on how this man’s costume is migraine-inducing and thus unsafe to be worn in public. What kind of absolute _moron_ designed that thing?! 

Adrien vaguely recognized he might be slightly hysterical from almost getting shot. 

The fashion disaster interrupted Adrien’s inner monologue. “Wait...don’t tell me. Uh, Black Cat?” Spider-Man guessed. Spider-Man’s mask contorted into a caricature of deep speculation. Adrien just stared at him, his mouth dropping open slightly in shock. 

Spider-Man kept going. “No, no, that’s not right! That’s already taken! Black Kitten? Ugh, no, that sounds terrible. The Dark Cat? Cat-Man? It can’t be Black Panther, I’m pretty sure T’Challa has that copyrighted…” Spider-Man shook his head slowly.

“Chat Noir.”

“What?”

“My name is Chat Noir.”

“Wait, seriously? Are you like, Felicia’s French cousin that she doesn’t talk about or something?”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “What? Wha—Who?! No?” Is this guy seriously revealing the secret identities of fellow heroes?! 

“Oh! Nevermind then, that’s not important. So...you must be pretty new to this. Mutant or mutate?” 

“...Um? This suit is literally made from magic?” Adrien mentally shook himself and wondered why he was telling this strange, very brightly colored man these things. Well, Spider-Man did just save his life, he supposed. 

Spider-Man let out a low whistle. “Jeez. You’re a magical girl?! Wade is going to flip out. I’m a mutate, myself. Whaddya say we ditch this alley and do a quick patrol around the meatpacking district? Tell ya what, kid, I’ll show you how to handle jerks with guns.” 

Spider-Man made his way out of the alley toward West 14th street, nearly tripping over a discarded Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup. Spider-Man picked it up and tossed it into a dumpster near the back of the alley where the man who had the gun was still pinned to the wall. He cheered softly and muttered “Three points!” to himself under his breath. 

Adrien, slightly numb with shock, followed him.

* * *

> _Hey Chat. I know we agreed that we would only use these accounts for official Akuma-related communication, but it’s really weird not talking to you all the time during patrol. I hope you’re doing well. -LB_

Marinette hit send before she could chicken out. Marinette took a deep breath and used her yoyo to swing across the 59th Street bridge.

She had a long week, okay? Marinette figured she could let loose a little by transforming into her polka-dotted alter-ego for a few hours. She pulled out her phone. No response from Chat. Well, she supposed this was normal: it was probably close to 8:00 AM in Paris. Her partner was probably still cat napping. 

Marinette arrived in Manhattan and made her way to the nearest rooftop. She pulled out a pair of headphones from the tiny wristlet she brought with her to carry her phone—that’s another reason why Marinette needed talk with Tikki about possible suit modifications: the lack of damn pockets—and tuned out the sounds of traffic stories below her. 

She paused for a few minutes to take in the sight before her and smiled. This is what she needed. She wondered if Chat missed this as much as she did. 

Marinette didn’t really have a set plan for her “patrol.” Did this even count as a patrol? Marinette wasn’t in Paris, and she wasn’t sure she really wanted to get involved in any fights without backup. Not before she had a decent feel for the city, at least. Marinette shook her head. No, tonight she would explore the rooftops and scout escape routes and mentally catalogue the shadier areas of town.  

Marinette stayed out for a while longer humming along to whatever song came on next on her phone. Eventually, after she tired herself out backflipping off the rooftops of Manhattan, Marinette decided to head back home to Queens. She slipped into her bedroom window at Michelle’s house, de-transformed quietly, and immediately fell asleep. 

Marinette never noticed the tall figure following her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Next time: Ladybug and Chat Noir run into each other.**
> 
>  
> 
> Always envisioned Adrien having a teeny tiny baby crush on Peter Parker.
> 
> I love Tim Horton’s with all of my heart and soul. 
> 
> The first song Marinette listened to on a rooftop was Non-Dairy Creamer by Third Eye Blind.
> 
> Your comments and kudos mean the world to me. Thank you for reading!


	3. First Encounters

_Chat Noir: LB! Hey, it was really nice hearing from you. I’m doing okay. I’ve been keeping purr-ty busy with school. How are you?_

_Ladybug: Only one cat reference, Chat? Are you sure you’re feline okay? :)_

_Chat Noir: Challenge accepted, meowtherfucker._

_Ladybug: What have I done_

_Chat Noir: Like c’mon you’ve gotta be kitten me if you litter-ally think I can’t crank out some cat-astrophically clawsome purrns. I just figured you purrferred minimal punnage?_

_Ladybug: Oh dear_

_Chat Noir: =^-^= <3_

_Ladybug: (:·:I:·:) ...ok my attempt at a ladybug emoji looks like a pimply ass, yikes_

_Chat Noir: I love your pimply ass, Ladybug._

_Ladybug: okay goodbye_

* * *

Marinette couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

She had been transforming into Ladybug the last couple of nights to explore the city and perfect a patrol route. It was just after sunset: the sky was a deep blue littered with peachy pink clouds and the night was growing colder, the wind biting at her cheeks and nose. Marinette sat down on the edge of the rooftop she was on and began swinging her legs, balancing with her arms behind her.

As the sky continued the lose light, Marinette pulled out her phone and debated messaging Chat. It was during moments like these when she missed him the most: how many weeks had passed since she had last watched the sunset with her best friend? She sighed and closed her eyes, trying almost desperately to enjoy the silence. There it was again, that feeling like ice running down the back of her neck. If Chat were here maybe she wouldn’t feel so jumpy and anxious. She stood quickly and paced, scanning the nearby rooftops for any movement.

Marinette clenched her jaw and swallowed. She was just being paranoid. She landed on the roof of a low-rise apartment building and began fidgeting with her yoyo.

The air was cool and the sky was now dark above her. The city traffic was white noise in the back of her mind. She was alert and watchful and terrified.

She spun around.

Nothing. Her breathing was shallow and her heart was beating out of her chest. She stared for a few seconds longer, and then walked to the edge of the rooftop.

Marinette used her yoyo to swing onto the roof of a nearby building.

Marinette ran into a wall of red. “Oof,” she said intelligently. Marinette took a step back and found herself staring at a man dressed entirely in dark red and black leather.

The masked man brought his hand to his chin in mock speculation. “You’re not Spidey.”

“Uh...nope!” Marinette laughed nervously. This guy seemed dangerous.

Marinette blinked and a katana was pressed against her neck. “I don’t suppose you’d tell me where he is, hmm? See, today is Tuesday and I have—” The man paused to reach into his utility belt and pulled out a massive takeout bag, physics be damned, “—about 37 crunchwrap supremes and no Spidey to eat them with.” The man’s voice dropped to a menacing growl. “I’m not going to ask you again, kid.”

Marinette didn’t breathe. The blade was cool against her neck and she couldn’t think. She felt something warm trickle down her neck and swallowed. “I swear, I have no idea who you’re talkin—”

“You’re a lying liar who lies. I’ve seen you swinging across these rooftops. The only person who does that around here is our friendly neighborhood bugs for brains, and _you’re not him._ ”

There was a soft thud and the menace in red leather spun around, katana hanging limply from his side. An athletic man in a skin-tight red and blue ensemble looked at the sight in front of him with a thunderous expression on his mask.

“Deadpool! What the hell are you doing?! She’s just a kid!” The man in the red and blue underoos stormed up to Deadpool and smacked him across the shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards. He approached Marinette and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “Did he hurt you?”

“You just frickin’ dislocated my shoulder, Spides, you big bully,” Deadpool muttered, rubbing his shoulder. Marinette took a moment to calm her breathing. “I’ll be okay,” she responded slowly. Marinette paused for a second. “Are you Spidey?”

The man in red and blue chuckled. “Spider-Man, yes, at your service.”

Marinette nodded seriously. “Ladybug. I’m sorry. I think I interrupted your taco date.”

“Wha—date?! No, nope, I just get takeout with Deadpool sometimes during patrol, it’s not a date or anything. We’re not dating. Just two buds getting Mexican.”

Deadpool made a soft sound like he was dying. Marinette snorted. “Whatever you say, Spider-Man.”

Spider-Man shrugged and turned to Deadpool. “How the hell did you think she was a bad guy?! Jesus Christ, Deadpool. Can’t show up late to anything without you attacking literal children.”

Deadpool hunched over, ashamed. “Sorry about that, kid.” He paused for a moment and looked sharply at Spider-Man. “But how was I supposed to know she wasn’t some evil bug teen rival from your past?”

Marinette huffed indignantly. “First of all, I’m not a bug. Ladybugs are coccinellids, and second,” Marinette sniffed, “I’m not a kid. I’m probably not that much younger than you, buddy.” Deadpool and Spider-Man exchanged glances.

“Yeah? I’m 24.” Spider-Man responded, his voice teasing and light. Deadpool barked out a laugh. “I’m 36.”

Marinette mumbled something quietly under her breath.

“What was that?” Spider-Man called. Marinette couldn’t see underneath his mask, but she was 120% convinced he was wearing the biggest, most shit-eating grin on his face right now.

“Nineteen! I’m 19, okay? But it’s not like I’m some baby, I’ve been doing this for a while, you know.”

“Huh. I think that’s how old that other kid was. Jeez, what’s with all these new teen superheros? I didn’t realize it was this trendy to fight crime…” Spider-Man trailed off, shaking his head slightly.

“Oh, so _that’s_ why you were late tonight?” Deadpool joked, shoving Spider-Man slightly. “Hanging out with that European jailbait in the leather so tight you can tell what religion he is?”

Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. _What?_

“Yeah, man, I just saw the kid half an hour ago. I think he’s got a lot of potential, DP. He just needs a bit of training. I think he’s still pretty new to this. Hey, give me one of those tacos, will you?”

Deadpool passed Spider-Man a crunchwrap and looked up guiltily at Marinette. He pulled out another crunchwrap and handed it to Marinette. “Thanks,” she mumbled and took a bite.

There are no Taco Bells in France. Marinette paused mid-chew to stare down at the warm hexagonal tortilla in her hand. The nacho cheese was oozing slightly out of the bite she had just taken, the tomatoes were cold and fresh and the lettuce that was suspiciously crisp for the amount of time the crunchwrap had probably been in Deadpool’s utility belt. Marinette closed her eyes and moaned. “What _is_ this thing?”

Deadpool looked at her strangely. “You’ve never had Taco Be—”

“Um, Spider-Man? Is that you?” A very familiar voice called out. “Hey, uh, I’m sorry for bothering you, but I was wondering if I could ask you a que—”

Marinette dropped her crunchwrap.

“Chat?!”

“Ladybug?!”

“What are you doing here?!”

“What are _you_ doing here?!”

Spider-Man gestured between the two of them. “You two know each other?”

Marinette recovered first. “Yeah, we’re both superheroes back home in France,” she said slowly, keeping her eyes glued onto Chat’s face.

“Excuse us for a minute,” Chat breathed, grabbing Ladybug’s arm and guiding her to the edge of the roof. Deadpool and Spider-Man looked at each other and shrugged.

“Be safe kids!” Deadpool called after them with a wave. “Stay in drugs, don’t do school!”

Chat managed a half-wave before Ladybug grabbed his arm and jumped off of the edge of the roof, dragging Chat down with her.

* * *

Peter’s office hours were usually pretty empty. Attendance always dwindled down after the first few classes, but there were a handful of regulars.

There were the sorority girls that were retaking the course who talked too much and spent more time looking up homework answers on Chegg than asking Peter for help.

There were the kids who were really struggling who usually only managed enough courage to ask for Peter’s help with a problem or two before leaving.

There were the overachievers, who Peter begrudgingly appreciated. These kids tended to adopt a leadership role and tried to help out the kids who were struggling. Peter sometimes had to step in and correct the overachievers when they were explaining something incorrectly, but Peter mostly left them alone.

Then there was that Adrien Agreste kid.

Adrien Agreste had been glaring at his lab report for the past five minutes.

Peter felt oddly drawn to the kid, like they shared some kind of deep connection or something. Looking up from his own research, Peter took a moment to study the blond boy across from him.

It certainly wasn’t that they both shared an impeccable fashion sense: Adrien came to each class looking like he stepped out of a magazine: hair perfectly coiffed, sophisticated accessories, all tailored lines of impeccable taste. Peter considered himself lucky if he managed to change out of sweatpants.

It wasn’t that they were both wealthy: Peter was nowhere near as poor as he had been in the aftermath of his uncle’s murder, but he wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination well-off. It had taken Peter _years_ to become more than a small blip on SHIELD’s radar, and now they pay him a reasonable amount when they call him in for jobs. Working as a TA didn’t pay much, but it was easy enough and it helped to make ends meet. Peter had bills to pay and he couldn’t survive solely off of an unpredictable paycheck from SHIELD and selling selfies to the Bugle. Adrien seemed like he ate hundred dollar bills for breakfast.

Something about the kid’s mannerisms seemed like the world rested on his shoulders, like he was being stretched far too thin, like he had some kind of greater duty—

Adrien put his pen down, shoved his half-finished report away from him, and glanced up at Peter.

Peter raised his eyebrows, amused. “Imagine how much harder chemistry would be if electrons had feelings.”

Adrien’s lips pressed into a thin line. “Screw electrons, man. I am 100% anti-electron rights. I am totally positron about this.”

Peter chuckled. “Alright, alright, no need to get so negative. What do you need help with?”

Adrien shoved his paper over to Peter.

“Okay. So. Here’s the thing. Don’t memorize mechanisms. You know the acid/base chemistry from freshman chemistry, or, well, hopefully you do, I don’t know what they teach you in France, but that’s half the battle. You have to consider each molecule and its sterics and regiochemistry and composition and remember those definitions: okay, will this molecule work with a nonpolar, polar protic or polar aprotic solvent?”

Adrien stared down at his report. “Um.”

Peter explained the theory behind the mechanism in Adrien’s lab report, guiding him through the process. Adrien met his gaze, thanked him quietly, and resumed working on his own.

Peter glanced at the clock, his chest filling with a warm nostalgia. He thought back to the days when he was a newly minted hero in high school, checking the clock impatiently as he suffered through his classes. 20 minutes until his office hours were over, 20 minutes until stripping down to his red and blues in some alley.

Peter looked at Adrien one last time and found his eyes glued to the clock as well, tapping a finger against the table impatiently. _Weird kid_ , Peter thought.

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir landed on the roof of a nearby building and faced each other.

Adrien stared at Ladybug for a solid ten seconds before they both started laughing.

“I-I can’t believe this,” Ladybug said between giggles.

“You’re telling me,” Adrien said to her, steadying his breathing. “This is one hell of a coincidence.”

“So are you part of that massive exchange-student program?”

Adrien ran a hand through his hair nervously, internally wincing a little bit. Stupid magical costume with its stupid sharp ass claws. “Yeah, wow. You too, huh? It’s so crazy seeing you here.”

Ladybug walked over to the edge of the building, sitting at the edge of the roof. Adrien followed her.

Ladybug stared out into the city. “I missed you,” she said in a quiet voice.

Adrien’s heart melted a little bit. “Not nearly as much as I missed you, Ladybug,” he said, equally soft. He paused a moment before smirking and adding, “it’s been clawfully lonely here without you.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes with a fond smile and grew still. “This place is so different from Paris,” she said, eyes flitting between buildings in the distance.

“Tell me about it,” Adrien scoffed. “Akumas don’t point guns in your face.”

“What?!” Ladybug turned to gape at Chat.

“Welcome to New York!” Adrien laughed, slightly hysterical. “No, but seriously, Spider-Man swooped in and saved this cat’s ass. He’s been helping me out.”

“ _Jesus_ , Chat. That’s insane. That was my first time meeting him and that Dead-whatever guy. They seem pretty…intense?”

“Oh, Deadpool? I’ve never actually met him, but Spider-Man always talks about him. From what I’ve heard, they’re kind of…well, they kind of remind me of us.” Adrien leaned back on his elbows and stared at the night sky. “Did you know Spider-Man has been teaming up with Deadpool for like, five years now and he still hasn’t told him his identity?”

“Smart guy,” Ladybug commented coolly. “I guess I can’t really judge them. I don’t know them all that well, and I mean, Deadpool _did_ introduce me to the utter bliss that is Taco Bell,” Ladybug trailed off, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

Adrien met her gaze and grinned. “Ah. Gotcha. So Mexican food is the way to win you over, huh?” Ladybug groaned.

Adrien turned away from her and stared out into the city beyond him, playing with his belt-tail absently. “In all seriousness, though, I think we could learn a lot from them. We could join them in a patrol of the city later this week or something?” Adrien paused. “It could be pawsome, LB. You never know.”

“Hmm,” Ladybug responded, her mouth twitching upwards. “Alright, Chaton. Let’s do it.”

The pair lapsed into a comfortable silence. They stared out at the city and listened to the wind and traffic. The cool air stung their cheeks. Adrien closed his eyes.

Ladybug turned abruptly towards Chat and put her hands on his shoulders. Adrien stiffened under her touch.

“Hey! How about we go do parkour off some rooftops? Just like old times?” Ladybug’s grin was contagious.

“ _Cat_ -ch me if you can, Ladybug!”

* * *

“—just saying, we’ve known each other for _years_ and you don’t even know my name—”

“Hey, whoa there baby boy, I’m not going to pressure you into telling—”

“—and you told me your name, like, immediately after I met you—”

“Yeah, because I don’t have anyone I need to prote—”

“Shut up, Wade.”

“…”

“It’s those kids. Chat Noir was telling me about his partner, you know, that girl that you scared the piss out of five minutes ago? They’re doing the same thing that I did, they’re keeping their identities secret from each other which is _dumb_ and I think I needed to see it from the outside to realize how dumb I was being.”

“…”

Peter steeled himself. “I trust you, Wade.”

Spider-Man peeled off his mask.

“Hi, I’m Peter.” Peter grinned up at Wade. Peter coughed, feeling oddly nervous for the first time. “Um, Parker. Peter Parker. Nice to finally officially meet you!”

* * *

Marinette was sitting across from Adrien in a coffee shop that they had forgotten the name of when she leaned in conspiratorially. “You know, rumor has it Ladybug and Chat Noir were spotted here in New York recently.”

It had been a few days since she had discovered that Chat Noir was in America. They had made plans to meet up over the weekend and patrol together—they were hoping to run into Spider-Man or that menace Deadpool, but Marinette wasn’t holding her breath.

Adrien seemed to choke on his coffee before muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like “ha, oh my god, _spotted_.” He schooled his features into a neutral expression. “Where’d you here _that_?”

Marinette raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re forgetting who my best friend is,” she responded coyly. She wasn’t entirely sure if Alya had seen anything on the internet about the duo’s whereabouts…maybe she would call her and slip her a hint. “It’s not on the Ladyblog because Alya isn’t completely certain of her source yet, but yeah! Have you seen them on any rooftops lately?”

Adrien blinked. “Uh, no,” he said, casually taking a sip of his coffee. “That’s so weird. I wonder what they’re doing here.” 

Marinette gulped some of her coffee and smiled playfully. “Maybe they’re on a super-secret mission or something.”

Adrien leaned back in his chair and snorted. “Somehow I doubt that, Mari.” Adrien paused, stirring his sugary swill. “It is curious, though.”

A loud crash interrupted their conversation. “Shit,” a new voice stated simply.

Marinette watched Adrien turn towards the voice, confusion and surprise written all over his face. “Merde, Peter, can’t take you anywhere,” Adrien laughed.

Marinette looked over at the boy—Peter—who had spilled multiple drinks all over himself and the floor. She stood quickly and walked over to grab some napkins to help him clean. Adrien followed in suit, shaking his head and laughing.

“Go ahead. Laugh at my suffering. I am going to get murdered for this. Mr. Jameson is actually going to murder me,” Peter finished dramatically. “Uh, thank you for this. You didn’t have to help me, Adrien and, uh, friend of Adrien.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Oh! Crap, sorry, Peter, Marinette. Marinette, Peter.”

“Marinette,” Peter repeated, smiling warmly. “Nice to meet you!”

Marinette smiled back, partially at how Peter butchered her name with his New York accent. “Peter. Likewise,” she said, crumpling a coffee-soaked napkin and tossing it into the garbage. “So, how do you guys know each other?”

Adrien made his way back in line, reaching for his wallet. “Hey, Peter, I’m buying you coffee. What did we just clean up off the floor?”

Peter numbly prattled off his order and turned to Marinette, wide-eyed. “…does he always do that?”

Marinette laughed. “For his friends, yes.”

“I’m just his TA!” _Oh_. So that’s the infamous TA.

Peter narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘infamous’?” Marinette blushed.

“Oh, wow, I totally said that out loud didn’t I? It’s just Adrien never shuts up about you!” Peter’s ears turned pink. The two stared at each other for a long moment.

“Have I met you before—”

“Do I know you from somewhere—”

Adrien chose that moment to walk up to them both, holding out Peter’s (and presumably Mr. Jameson’s) coffee order. Peter showered Adrien in thanks. “So,” Adrien started, clearing his throat uncomfortably, “what brings you to this coffee shop? Pretty far from campus…” Adrien trailed off.

“See that really ugly building across the street?” Peter gestured out the coffee shop window. “That’s the Daily Bugle. When I’m not grading your lab reports or working on my own research at Stark Labs in the Avengers Tower or, uh, at my other job, I’m in that building getting yelled at by Mr. Jameson.”

Marinette let out a low whistle. “Damn. And here I was thinking Adrien was the busiest person I know. When do you have time to _sleep_?”

Peter laughed bitterly. “Oh, I don’t. It’s a lifestyle.” Marinette nodded solemnly, understanding completely.

“Do you have a few minutes to join us, Peter? We were sitting right over there before you decided to dump your coffee on the ground,” Adrien joked, gesturing towards the table he was sharing with Marinette.

Peter glanced at his watch. “Yeah, I mean, I have about five minutes?”

“We were just talking about superheroes,” Adrien said conversationally as they walked to their table.

“Supposedly a few of our heroes back in Paris have been seen around town,” Marinette chimed in, sliding into her seat across from Adrien and Peter.

Peter looked between Adrien and Marinette and nodded sharply. “Chat Noir and Ladybug,” he said.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged a glance. “You’ve heard of them?” Marinette asked weakly.

Peter’s eyes widened. “Uh! Well, I don’t know much about them. But I _do_ work in Avengers Tower, and I have heard their names mentioned in hallways once or twice…”

“I keep forgetting how many superheroes operate in New York City. I can’t imagine that,” Adrien commented. Peter rested his chin in his hands and looked at Adrien and Marinette. “So,” he said smugly, “who’s your favorite American superhero?”

Adrien met his gaze. “Spider-Man,” he deadpanned. Marinette hesitated. “Well, I’m not really sure. I don’t know too much about any of them.”

“Well, Spider-Man is great,” Adrien began, smiling excitedly at Marinette. “He’s on YouTube! Hang on, let me find this one vid—”

“Whoo dang would you look at the time! It’s been great guys, but I really gotta go,” Peter said quickly, standing up. He turned to Marinette. “Marinette. It’s been a pleasure.” He glanced at Adrien. “Adrien. Thanks for the coffee. See you in lab tomorrow.” Peter grabbed his coffee and waved a staccato goodbye.

Marinette watched Peter jog across the street into the Daily Bugle building. “Okay then…”

Adrien waved his phone in front of her face. “Look!”

Marinette rolled her eyes and smiled at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I’m alive. Thank you all for reading and for your kind thoughts in the comments. I’m not really sure where I’m going with this, but you guys are absolutely wonderful for being so supportive.
> 
> Haven’t watched ML Season 2 yet. Oops.
> 
> I went to high school with a girl who went by “LB.” She played the violin. Guess I’m a bit more fond of LB as a nickname for Ladybug than “My Lady,” so uh, there you have it.
> 
> Chegg saved my ass when I took organic chemistry as an undergrad.
> 
> Next chapter has like….1,000ish words written so far. Hopefully it’ll be up sooner rather than later. Thank you again for sticking around with me!


End file.
